The Naval Chronicle
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“Afflavit Deus et dissipantur.”
“The power that he already hath in Gallia
Will soon be drawn to head, from whence he moves
His war for Britain.”
As our inimitable poet has expressed himself,
“The slave, a member of the country's peace,
Enjoys it; but in gross brain, little wots
What watch the King keeps to maintain the peace,
Whose hours the peasant best advantages!”
At a period, such as the present, when we are likely to be again annoyed by the threats of invasion, from the hostile shores of France, it is pleasing to revert to past ages; to dwell upon the exploits of those to whom our ancestors looked up–nor looked up in vain–for protection and deliverance. As Englishmen, we cannot but feel an honest pride, a generous ardour glowing in our veins, when we reflect upon the glorious days of Elizabeth: who, “though she had but the body of a weak and feeble woman, yet had the heart of a king; and of a king of England too; and thought foul scorn, that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of her realms!”
France, it is true, is not now what Spain was two hundred and twenty years ago, the first naval power in Europe; yet there are circumstances, which at the present epoch, render the Spanish armada, and its glorious defeat by the British, objects of very considerable interest–Under this impression, and from motives which will hereafter appear, we have selected the Earl of Nottingham, as a fit subject for biographical illustration.
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